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Duterte likely to sign national ID into law: Palace

Duterte likely to sign national ID into law: Palace

By Azer Parrocha

MANILA (Philippines News Agency) — President Rodrigo R. Duterte is inclined to sign the legislation creating a national identification (ID) system in the Philippines into a law, his spokesperson said Thursday.

“I believe so,” Roque said when asked if Duterte was likely to approve it after the Senate on Monday voted to pass Senate Bill 1738 or the Philippine Identification System Act of 2018.

The House of Representatives approved its version of the legislation in September last year.

Roque said that there was an “overwhelming” consensus from members of the Duterte Cabinet to approve of the system meant to harmonize an individual’s government IDs.

Moreover, Roque said that the 2018 national budget has also earmarked funds for the national ID system.

“In the last Cabinet meeting, there was an overwhelming consensus for thei need for a national ID system and there’s already a budget allotted in the 2018 budget for national ID,” Roque said.

On Wednesday, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said he is “pretty optimistic” that the proposed national ID system would be approved and passed into law in the near term.

Diokno said that the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has earmarked at least PHP2 billion for its implementation

He said that the national ID will carry information on the holder’s demographic details, such as name, sex, date of birth, place of birth and address and will reduce the need for at least 33 sectoral IDs currently being issued by various government agencies.

It will also use biometrics using scans of all 10 fingers and will have a higher ranking than the existing unified multi-purpose ID. (PNA)

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